The Persistence of Memory
by Demigod
Summary: Terra awakes, alone and confused, in a dark cavern. This is a short possibility of her reintorduction to the life she left behind. One shot, no pairings, Complete.


The Persistence of Memory

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A/N: This has nothing to do with "Seven Years' Bad Luck in One Day", it's just something that I suddenly wanted to write. This one-shot, one chapter minific has no pairings, no action, and very little plot advancement. It's just my interpretation of how Terra, lost and confused, would react to waking up in a familiar place. The fic wanders with Terra, and doesn't really go anywhere drastic. I had fun writing it, however. Hope you enjoy reading it.

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The long silence in the chamber was broken by a sudden gasp of air. Terra coughed loudly, as she collapsed on the small pedestal she found herself on. She breathed heavily as she pushed herself up, sitting on the cold stone, and opening her eyes. When she did, she almost couldn't tell. It was pitch black in this cavern. Where was she?

She could feel the earth all around her, the stone dais she was sitting on, a small granite plaque nearby, the volcanic rock of the floor, and the natural earth above her. She was definitely underground, and somehow had survived a volcano. She shook her head quickly, trying to clear the fog that was obscuring her memory. Her mind wasn't functioning well; she remembered some sort of battle, Beastboy had been there... Terra sighed. It was pointless at the moment.

She concentrated a moment, and a few pebbles she could sense on the floor raised into the air, her hand glowing from the use of her powers. The dim light illuminated the area, as she hopped down from the pedestal. She had been sitting next to a small, dried, and very old bouquet of flowers. She reached out and ran her fingers along the petals, which broke from even her gentle touch. The granite plaque caught her eye suddenly, and she bent down, moving her glowing hand closer, in order to take a look.

* * *

Terra

A Teen Titan

A True Friend

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Terra raised an eyebrow. This sounded like... an epitaph. She looked up, unable to see the ceiling of the chamber in the dim light from her hand. A moment's focus lifted a large platform of volcanic rock, which she rode upwards, forming a hole in the ceiling and closing it behind her as she rose. A few hundred meters of tunneling and she broke through the surface, and immediately had to shield her eyes from the harsh daylight. She heard traffic, and recognized the sensation of asphalt under her feet. She tentatively opened her eyes again, and noticed that she was standing in the middle of the street. Embarrassed at her public stupidity, she quickly jumped away from street, landing on the sidewalk, next to some small shop.

The young girl looked around herself, as her eyes adjusted to the daylight. Jump City. Right! She had been a Teen Titan! Terra looked down at her hands, encased in black cloth, mechanical bracers attached to her slender arms. She frowned, and turned towards the shop window, seeing her reflection.

Slade.

The memory of her betrayal of the Titans suddenly returned to her, as well as the memory of Slade attacking her for something. She couldn't remember exact details, but she had a feeling that she shouldn't be walking around downtown in this costume. Terra looked around quickly for any civilian witnesses, but found the street empty. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she looked at the sun's position, and estimated that it was around two in the afternoon. She also spotted a thrift store nearby. Terra shrugged, walking towards the store. She needed clothing, and this store was as good as any other.

Terra pushed the door open cautiously, looking into the store, trying to appear nonthreatening despite her costume and half-remembered history. The only person in the store was a bored-looking clerk, who just threw her a suspicious glance before snorting scornfully. "Yeah, you look like you could use a change of clothes."

Terra smiled at the clerk, a little nervous. "I'm... not sure I have any money."

The clerk just shrugged. "My manager is out to lunch, and I'm getting paid minimum wage. Take whatever you want, I don't care."

"Uh... ok." Terra looked over the ratty and old looking clothes that the store had. Her travels before she'd met the Titans had left her with much worse before, she could deal with it. As the clerk went back to watching daytime television, Terra found a loose black t-shirt and loose blue jeans to put on. Stepping into the dressing room, which she figured was unisex, given it was the only one there, she tried to pull off the strange mechanical costume she was wearing. A light tug caused her pain, as if the costume was pulling at her skin. She frowned, feeling as if she'd tried this before. The holes in her memory were really beginning to irritate her.

Terra stepped out of the dressing room, having pulled the loose clothing over her costume, looking a little bumpy for a teen aged girl, but still more normal than she had. The clerk looked over at her, then shrugged. "Not bad."

Smiling, Terra walked to the counter. "Are you sure it's ok if I take this stuff?"

The clerk shrugged. "Like I care. That costume makes you look like a superhero or something. You should go talk to the Titans, there tower is in the middle of the bay."

Terra looked away, frowning. "Yeah... I know where it is."

* * *

The wind blew through her hair, carrying the salty smell of the sea, as she stood in front of the imposing Titan's Tower. The city had changed slightly since she'd been in the cave; a few businesses that she remembered had changed, or gone out of business. A few buildings had been demolished, a few others had been recently built. Titan's Tower remained the same, which Terra found comforting. She walked up to the ground-level doors of the tower, hesitating momentarily and pressing the switch that served as a doorbell of sorts.

She spoke into the small microphone nearby. "Uh... I'm not sure if I should be here. Is anyone up there?"

The silence from the tower told her that it was empty. She reached for the keypad next to the door, and paused a moment. What if they'd changed the code? She sighed, then punched in the code that she remembered. The keypad flashed red, indicating an invalid code, and she heard the camera above the door click as it took her photo as evidence. She sighed, wishing she didn't have to resort to this.

The tunnel opened below her feet as she burrowed under the ground, sensing the earth around her, as well as the stone walls of the Titans basement. The basement wall yielded effortlessly to her power, and she was suddenly inside. She waited, tense, for the Tower's security system to attack her. A few seconds passed, and she relaxed a little. Either the basement wasn't protected, or she was still in the system as a Titan. She walked through the basement slowly, her footsteps loud in the silent room. She could feel the metal of the staircase to the rest of the tower with her powers, and she walked in that direction, eager to explore the tower, waiting for memories to resurface.

The door from the basement opened with what seemed like a deafening creak in the silence of the tower. Terra froze, listening for something to come attack her, but heard only the hum of the fluorescent lighting and air conditioning. She let out the breath that she'd been subconsciously holding, and stepped into the hallway. Looking around, she felt... comfortable. As if she was arriving at home.

The elevator door hissed open, revealing the operations room. The large television screen displayed a paused videogame, and Terra couldn't help but smile as she saw "BB" and "Cy" as the player names. The stack of games on the floor looked a bit bigger than she remembered, however. Terra walked across the room, looking at the boiling stew that was sitting on the stovetop. Lifting the lid, she gave a tentative sniff, then placed the lid back on. Ugh, Bal-gorg. Terra had enjoyed most of Starfire's cooking, but this was something she'd just never had the stomach for.

Terra saw a communicator sitting on the table, and from the oil stains, surmised that it belonged to Cyborg. He rarely bothered to take it with him anywhere, as he had all the necessary communication equipment in his circuitry anyway. Terra smiled, memories of pizza parties and late movie-nights flooding back to her. She picked up the communicator, and pressed the switch to track the other Titans. The communicator searched for a moment, then found her friends on the far side of the city, as well as flashing an alarm in the same area as Plasmus attacked a toxic waste dump.

She switched off the communicator, placing it back on the counter. She felt her body relax as she was relatively assured privacy for a time. She walked towards the hallway, feeling some desire to explore the tower while she had time. She was hoping for some clue to what had happened, as her memory was still shredded. The hallway was forebodingly silent, even the bright sunlight shining in from the floor to ceiling windows didn't lighten the mood. She walked as quietly as the could, nervous for no apparent reason. She pressed the small switch next to Starfire's door, smiling as it opened without need for codes. Starfire had always been so trusting.

"You always were easy to fool." The words came to Terra now, as well as the memory of a battle, against the Titans. Terra felt suddenly ashamed, unsure as to why she would betray the Titans. She shook such thoughts out of her head for the moment, and stepped into Starfire's room.

The pink carpet, pink bed, pink walls, and violet curtains were slightly overwhelming. Terra still smiled as she remembered her erstwhile friend and teammate. The circular bed looked as if it hadn't been slept in, but Terra knew that Starfire slept upside down on the bed, and without blankets. Shaking her head bemusedly, she picked up the small wooden doll laying on the pillow. It was a tiny wooden marionette of Starfire. Terra had hoped that picking it up might trigger some memory, but it was just a marionette. Replacing it, she looked towards the small vanity in the opposite corner. A photo of robin, as well as some flowery-smelling facial creams, composed the entirety of the objects on the small desk.

Terra stepped out of Starfire's room, closing the door behind her. She felt as if she should feel bad for snooping like this, but in all honesty, it didn't bother her. She continued down the hallway, passing by Robin's room, as well as Cyborg's. She stopped in front of Beastboy's, lightly running her fingertips over the printed name.

Beastboy brought back emotions that were hard for her to understand. She felt remorse, anger, and friendship all at once, for him. She felt like she should remember more about what had happened between them, but when she pressed herself to remember, there was simply a hole there. She frowned, and pressed the switch to open the door. A buzzer sounded, signifying that a code was required. She looked down at the keypad, and noticed that a few of the numbers were worn, as if they had been overused for a long time. Terra pressed her fingers to the keypad, and they moved almost on their own, physical memory recalling it. 8-3-7-7-2. Terra looked again at the keypad, then frowned. T-E-R-R-A... it spelled Terra.

The door opened, causing Terra to smile from the familiarity. The room was still a mess, clothes and old pizza boxes thrown haphazardly all over the place. She stepped inside, looking for something besides clothing. A photo on the desk caught her eye. She walked over, carefully picking a path through all the mess, and picked it up. It was a photo of the whole team, herself included, at the pizza place. She smiled at everyone's happy expressions. Beastboy was looking proud, apparently having won that day's eating contest. She had been standing next to him, playing the part of a trophy bride. She suddenly saw herself in her mechanical costume, hovering with a stone platform, near the same pizza place. In her memory, the city seemed so silent and gray. Had she caused that?

Terra placed the photo back on the desk, backing cautiously out of the room. The memory had been disturbing, and she wasn't sure how much she really wanted to remember at this point. The door closed automatically as she stepped back into the hallway. Suddenly feeling guilty, Terra thew glances both ways down the hallway, looking for any witnesses to her snooping. No one was there, of course, and she relaxed slightly in a few seconds.

Continuing down the corridor, she came to another door, and stopped again, though she wasn't sure why. The name, Raven, was printed across the door. She reached out and pressed the switch to open it, and was not at all surprised when the buzzer rang requiring a code. A memory of Raven phasing through her door came suddenly, and Terra realized that there probably was no code at all. Terra grinned maliciously. Raven wasn't the only one capable of getting through the door.

The metal of the door bent from Terra's will, forming a hole that she could easily walk through. She stepped inside, looking around with fear, the decorations of the room were dark and alien looking. Terra had never learned much about Raven. Starfire had told her that Raven was from another plane, settled by a pacifist order of monks, named Azerath. Terra didn't know what had inspired Raven to decorate in such depressing tones, however. She stepped forward, the light from the hallway streaming through the door, illuminating the foreboding room.

Terra was surprised to see a mirror on Raven's bed. She hadn't pictured Raven as the type to even own a mirror, let alone one as... ornate as this one. She reached down, picking it up, and looked at herself. The metal restraints on her hair reminded her of her costume, and she frowned slightly. Suddenly, the mirror glinted in the darkness, and her eyes took on a slightly evil look. She dropped the mirror in surprise, then closed the hole in the door, feeling suddenly vulnerable.

The silence in there remained unbroken, and the darkness gave no token. She forced a short chuckle, slightly embarrassed over getting spooked from a mirror. The air in the room felt suddenly cool, and she realized without remembering that Raven was about to teleport in. She ducked quickly behind the bed, panicked that she would be discovered.

There was a whoosh of air as the black shape of Raven's soul-self appeared in the room, then faded into the young empath. Terra suddenly realized that she'd grabbed the mirror again in her panic. She held it carefully towards the edge of the bed, using it to look at Raven as she appeared.

Raven stepped from her soul-self, the teleportation going without problem. Her normally immaculate cleanliness was gone, replaced by blotches and stains from the fight with Plasmus. She sighed heavily, removing her tainted cloak, and placing it into the garbage chute nearby. She reached to undo her main costume, then hesitated, as if she'd heard something. She turned towards Terra, frowning with her eyebrows furrowed, though Terra felt certain that she couldn't be seen.

A few nervous seconds passed, before Raven sighed heavily. She walked towards the closet and pulled out another costume, and then walked towards the bathroom. The door opened with a press of the switch, and Raven stepped inside. She spoke, her voice quiet and cautious. "Your fear is like fingernails on a chalkboard. Leave, you have no place here."

Terra felt her entire body freeze, as the door closed. She waited a few seconds, then heard Raven's shower come on. Terra stood up, hesitantly, and placed the mirror back on Raven's bed. She walked to the door, pressing the interior switch, which opened it easily. She stepped outside, and the door closed immediately. She still felt cold, Raven's voice had cut her deeply.

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Terra looked upwards, and moved the metal in her new costume upwards as well, opening holes in the metal floors of Titans' Tower as she headed for the rooftop. The bright sunlight once again blinded her as she stood on the rooftop, staring out over the bay. She looked down, seeing the Titans entering the tower far below her, Starfire having flown across the bay, carrying Robin and Cyborg. Beastboy said something she couldn't hear, and Starfire laughed, while the two other boys groaned. Terra giggled slightly, remembering better days. Beastboy halted as the others entered the tower, and looked up, towards Terra..

Terra dodged away from the edge of the roof, hoping she hadn't been seen. She looked out over the bay again, feeling guilty for a past she couldn't quite remember. A sigh escaped her lips, as she pulled her metal costume once again into the air, hesitating before leaving this place that felt so much like home, but so alien as well.

A voice, cold and even, broke the silence on the rooftop. "You are still here."

Terra turned cautiously, meeting Raven's piercing, violet eyes. She felt suddenly cold again, Raven's eyes had that effect when she was angry. "I... I don't have anywhere to go."

Raven stared at her for a moment, and Terra couldn't shake the feeling that she was being judged. Suddenly, Raven's expression changed slightly. Terra couldn't tell whether it was pity or compassion. "You... don't remember."

Terra shook her head, landing gently on the rooftop. She suddenly remembered Raven's distrust of her, constant and unwavering. She was afraid that Raven would attack her here, and she didn't want to hurt a fellow Titan. If Terra was a Titan anymore.

Raven turned away from Raven, and looked out across the bay. "You're afraid of me." Raven hesitated for a moment. "Come back, let the others know you are back. Telling you to leave is not my decision to make."

Terra took a hesitant step towards Raven. "Thank you, I was--"

Raven turned towards her sharply. "I don't trust you. We are not friends. However..." Raven paused again, as if choosing her words carefully. "The others miss you. Beastboy still thinks of you. It would be... nice... of you to come back. If you are sincere this time."

Terra nodded. "I think I am. What... happened to me?"

Raven shook her head. "I will let the others explain. Come with me."

After a moment's trepidation, Terra followed the empath back into the Tower. Into her home.

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A/N: I'll get to writing the next chapter of Seven Years soon enough. Hope you enjoyed this short minific. Thanks for reading. 


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